Sales are growing and so is our team. deal united is proud to welcome Markus Wiedemann as Head of Sales.

Coming to us with 13+ years of experience in the gaming and software industries, Markus will be in charge of our sales team as they work closely with clients in games, software and online services. He’s just in time to take the wheel as deal united continues expanding our sales and distribution in Europe.

“We’re excited to welcome Markus aboard,” said Dr. Jarg Temme, co-founder and CEO. “We’ve had a great start on what promises to be a year of growth and expansion, and with Markus on the team, we’re poised to take off.”

Markus spent the last five and a half years as Managing Director for central Europe at SEGA Germany, responsible for sales and marketing in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Prior to that, he was in charge of game developer Codemasters’ German branch for over seven years.

Markus cites confidence in both the deal united concept as well as the online payment industry as reasons for his switch. “This is a fast-growing market,” he said. “There’s lots of potential for the future, and I believe deal united’s innovative business model will be successful.”

For New and Existing Customers

Out with the old and in with the new. That’s how we’re greeting the arrival of springtime here at deal united, and we’re inviting our customers to do the same. Our “Spring Forward” special offer could significantly increase participating partners’ March revenue by rewarding those who shake out the cobwebs and spruce up their ad campaigns.

Existing customers just need to create a new campaign or produce fresh advertising material, and they will receive an extra €2 on every transaction from March 18th to March 28th – for a revenue increase of up to €250,000.

Not a deal united partner yet? Not a problem! Simply by registering with us no later than March 18th, brand new customers can get a piece of the March madness, too.

So don’t let your business “fall back” into settling for less. “Spring forward” with us and take advantage of this limited time offer.

From deal united by Torsten Bongartz

We all know from the fluctuation in our own bank accounts that in some seasons, for example the time around Mother’s Day, Easter and Christmas, people are in a giving mood and are willing to spend more money than usual on physical goods and gifts.

That being said, Christmas trade for 2010 seems quite promising for both online and offline retail sellers. According to the Kelkoo study, Europeans will spend 313 billion Euro ($420 billion) on holiday retail sales alone, and online shopping is expected to emerge as one of the key drivers for the entire industry. Compared to 2009, online revenue will increase up to 25.1% and generate a total revenue of 32 billion Euro ($ 44.5 billion).
deal united’s PAY.BY.SHOPPING allows you to harness this willingness to pay and increase your sales with special Christmas-themed campaigns.

So, how does it work?

You offer users a 2-for-1 deal: When they purchase a product at one of our advertising partners’ shops, they get your product at no cost. But don’t worry — in return, deal united pays you for the free virtual or digital good. Our partnerships with well-known brands like Gap, OTTO and Toys “R” Us make this possible and ensure that there’s an attractive offer for every consumer’s taste.  These offers are especially effective during the holidays, when our merchants have seen up to 100% increase in sales with us. For further information, you can request our case studies at http://www.dealunited.de/home/en/business/information.

It truly is an unbeatable bargain. Your users can purchase a Christmas gift they would buy anyway and get your product for free while you increase your sales and revenue.

We’ve made the whole thing possible in 3 steps:

• Launch  your Christmas campaign now at http://dealunited.de/public/default/register/merchant

• Add the deal united “Get it free” offer via banner, in-game message, login screen, teaser, newsletter or email.

• Increase your sales!

For further information, please contact merchant@dealunited.com

The Virtual Goods Summit West 2010 will take place at the Moscone West Conference Hall in San Francisco on October 12th and 13th. Several experts will present and discuss the future of virtual goods.

deal united is a sponsor for the event, which Jürgen Weichert (CSO), Daniel Shefer (Head of US Business Development) and Torsten Bongartz (Senior Sales Manager) will attend. If you’d like to meet with them, please visit our booth No. 11 or to make an appointment beforehand, contact merchant@dealunited.com or call +1 (650) 241-9120 (USA) /+49 (0) 89 381 535 860 (Germany).

Vacation season holds the same value for eCommerce as for offline retail nowadays: it’s a lucrative opportunity for both to generate more sales. But what about software vendors, game publishers and online services? How can they benefit from the summer cash flow? With deal united’s PAY.BY.SHOPPING, they can offer software or virtual currency free of  charge for users who shop at deal united advertising partners’ online stores. When a user makes  purchase at one of the stores, their “free” product is refunded to the merchant by the advertising partner from whom the user purchased.  With the wide product range our partners offer, users can choose frmo a great selection of items for holidays, summer and traveling.

The benefits of PAY.BY.SHOPPING by deal united:

• Incremental Revenue: Use the internet-shoppers willingness to pay during the holiday season
• Monetization: Address users directly with attractive offers and create real turnover!
• Seasonal Event: Benefit from the holiday season, even if your products / sector has nothing to do with it
• No Additional Marketing or Advertising Costs
• International Orientation: deal united is available in many countries and regions throughout Europe and the US.

These companies already cooperate with deal united

For further information check out www.dealunited.com/merchants and register free of charge or contact us at merchant@dealunited.com.

On June 11, the FIFA World Cup 2010 will kick off in South Africa. Soccer fans all over the world will once again watch the games to cheer for their favourite team. But the World Cup isn’t just one of the biggest sports events of 2010 — it’s also the biggest sales event of 2010 for savvy businesses. They’ll be rolling in revenue from country flags, whistles of all sizes and soccer jerseys, to ball-shaped pens, brand new grills and even widescreen televisions for a better game expierence.

Retailers have already recognized the potential of the FIFA World Cup, and even businesses in other industries want a slice of the cake. Cafés and bars offer public viewing, bakeries sell ball-shaped loaves of bread and even beer labels have been re-designed to catch fans’ eyes. In online business, web shops and other retail services also offer special goodies for the World Cup. But what about software vendors and online games? Is it far-fetched to think they could benefit from World Cup fever, too?

The thought isn’t as odd as you might think — not if you’re familiar with deal united’s innovative marketing solution Pay4You (UPDATE: Pay4You has been renamed PAY.BY.SHOPPING). We bring together online shops that offer merchandise for the World Cup with merchants like software vendors, online games and services. How? With Pay4You, online service providers can offer customers virtual currency or a free software upgrade for shopping at one of our advertisers’ online fan shops. Users will make a purchase they would have made anyway and get a bonus for free. Moreover, Pay4You doesn’t cost merchants a cent. Integration is free, and the bonus product/virtual currency is reimbursed by the advertiser from a portion of the purchase made.

deal united is an ideal choice for advertisers as well. They win new customers, like online gamers and social community members, who they might not have reached through traditional advertising channels. deal united gets these customers into online shops and ready to make an actual purchase.

With deal united, everybody wins.

Merchants increase revenue.

Advertisers win new customers.

Customers get great 2-for-1 deals.

For further information about possibilities of integration or to register free of charge, please contact us at merchant@dealunited.com or advertisers@dealunited.com or go to www.dealunited.com/merchants.

The day that traditionally honors mothers also regularly boosts sales for flower and gift shops. This year, retailers expected up to 150 million euros in sales for flowers alone.

So when you think of Mother’s Day, internet software is probably the last thing that pops into your mind, right?  Well, with deal united, things take a different turn. This year, software company Avira created a deal united campaign for Mother’s Day, combining a sales offer with a holiday that actually has nothing to do with their products.

Avira integrated the special Mother’s Day offer into their usual pop-up that encourages users of the free version of the security software to consider buying an upgrade. Instead of the usual message, users saw “Buy a gift for Mother’s Day and get AntiVir Premium for free.”  Interested customers could get the software free of charge if they chose to make a purchase with one of deal united’s advertising partners, which appropriately included online flower and gift shops like Valentins, OTTO and myToys.

The advertisers, in turn, gained customers and boosted sales. For Avira, the deal was completely free of charge, since the free product was refunded by the advertiser from a portion of the sales profit.  The customer also benefited, since they bought a gift for Mom and got free software as a bonus.

Mother’s Day falls on the 9th of May this year in many countries, including Germany, Italy and America. Of course, Mother’s Day is all about the moms, but for many businesses — especially those in the flower and candy industries — Mother’s Day also means major money. Restaurants make a killing, too, and so do jewelers, clothing stores and many other businesses. And now, so can you.

“What? But I’m the **insert online business** market,” you say? Let us explain. You’re trying to sell an online product, perhaps software upgrades or virtual currency for your online game. Through deal united, your users can go shopping online with our advertising partners, buy Mom a gift and get a bonus product — the software or virtual currency — from you for free. The advertiser pays for the free bonus from a portion of the sale. This allows you to make revenue on your products that certain users might not have otherwise bought. In combination with our wide range of well-known advertisers, such as contain flower shops and retail stores with a wide range of gifts for mothers, customers win as well: They buy Mom a gift and get a bonus gift for them to keep, for free!

4 Ways to Boost Mother’s Day Sales with deal united:

1. Shopping Bonus

Several studies show that internet shoppers are only ever satisfied if they get special bonuses like coupons, welcome gifts or discounts. With deal united, you can offer bonuses to your customers without paying a dime — the bonus you offer will be refunded by the advertisers. Especially for holidays like Mother’s Day, this comes in quite handy, as you can appeal to your customers with special messages. This is even useful for online retailers, who can place a special banner in their shop, like: “Mother’s Day Special: Buy Mom a present and get a free coupon now!” You as a retailer then benefit from the holiday by boosting your sales and gaining satisfied customers who are actually likely to spend more than the voucher amount in your shop.

2. Use Email Campaigns to Reactivate Customers

Got inactive customers? You can reactivate them with special offers via emails campaigns. Let them know they’ll get a free gift from you if they make a purchase at one of deal united’s advertisering partners. You’ll reach customers that might not have even thought about shopping online for Mother’s Day, let alone at your shop.

An example for an e-mail campaign

3. Get Users’ Attention

In order to boost your sales on Mother’s Day, you have to inform your customers about your incredible offers. The easiest and most effective way to do this is by placing a banner in a prominent location on your website. This way, you can be sure that as many customers and visitors will see it as possible. You can also utilize pop-unders. These pop up under the open window, so that when a user closes out of your shop, they see a message from you — it’s an ideal way to remind non-buying visitors that they can get a free gift.

4. Purchase Incentive Vouchers

If you own a web shop offering goods that are completely un-Mother’s Day related, like office supplies, pet food or software, you can still increase your sales with our incentive model, which encourages shoppers to shop in your shop and get a voucher from another shop for free, for example: “Shop now for 50 euros and get a voucher for Valentins worth 20 euros for free!” You’ll boost your sales on Mother’s Day and your customers will have the opportunity to buy a gift as well.

For further information, check out www.dealunited.com/merchants and register free of charge, or contact us at merchant@dealunited.com.

The German retailer gutscheinbuch.de used deal united for an Easter campaign

Internet World takes place from April 13-14, 2010 in Munich, Germany. A trade fair and conference rolled into one, Internet World was created for professionals who use the internet commercially. While businesses promote their concepts at the trade fair, over 700 attendees will listen to 80 speakers present at the conference.

deal united Sales Managers Matthias Niedermaier and Christian Maerten will be there on April 13. To meet with us, please contact us at merchant@dealunited.com or +49 (0) 89 381 649 360, or visit our homepage: www.dealunited.com.

Affliate Tactixx is directed toward merchants, agencies and affiliates. The conference aims to inform professionals about different measures regarding SEO and SEM, and how active partner programs can be advertised more effectivly to increase revenue. The conference will be held parallel to Internet World 2010 at the international congress center in Munich on April 13, 2010.

deal united Senior Sales Manager Christine Bialowons will be present at the congress. Fur further information, please contact us at merchant@dealunited.com or +49 (0) 89 381 649 360, or visit our homepage at www.dealunited.com.

Little known fact: Almost half of all seasonal merchandise sales are made in the weeks before Easter, putting this holiday up there near Christmas and Valentine’s Day as one of the most lucrative retail events of the year.

The eCommerce market has also caught on to this fact and integrated special Easter goods like candies (chocolate Easter eggs and Easter bunnies), decorative items and spring flower bouquets into their product lines. Some merchants, however, don’t have such a clear chance to take advantage of the Easter sales boom. Software vendors, online games and social communities, as well as web shops that sell electronics, pet articles or clothing, often don’t even consider Easter as a money-making opportunity.

If you’re one of these online service providers, deal united has proven marketing solutions that can help you change this. How? By offering your shoppers and users the opportunity to buy something for Easter and get a free product, software download, voucher or virtual currency as a bonus from you. Best of all, the free gift won’t cost you a thing.

You can offer users deals like “Get free software when you buy Easter decorations!” or “Buy an Easter bouquet and earn virtual currency for free.” Your user makes a purchase they already planned to make and gets free stuff to boot, while you get paid for the free gift out of proceeds from the purchase. Integration is free for merchants as well.

You can deliver these messages to these customers any way you want — however it makes the most sense for you and your bussiness. You might choose to place a banner on your home page, have a reminder pop up when they leave your site, send emails or insert a message into your game or software application.

By displaying targeted holiday-oriented messages, you can make the spring holidays more profitable for your site. Contact us now about creating an Easter or Mother’s Day campaign, or to find out how deal united can increase your conversion year-round.

Check out www.dealunited.com/merchants for further information or to register free of charge.